Jennifer wrote:Just finished reading Christopher Moore's latest Fool. Moore is one of my favorite writers because his novels are clever, funny, satirical and quite bawdy. Fool is a retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear. Intially, I hated it because it seemed to be nothing more than one dirty joke after another not to mention I hate Shakespeare. (My own personal theory is that the only people who love the Bard are people who were dropped on their heads as babies).

Once I got into it though the book was terrifically entertaining even though the bawdiness increased.

Probably my favorite author, right up there with Salman Rushdie.

Lamb - The Gospel According to Biff, Jesus' Childhood Pal might be one of the best, and funnies books I have ever read in my entire life. That was the first book of his I've read, and I've read most of the others so far. A Dirty Job was a pretty solid read from beginning to end as well.

As a HS English teacher, I'm looking forward to reading Fool, but I have to finish up my current book.

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is excellent, and I see exactly why it won a Pulitzer Prize. Gets a little tough in spots because there are smatterings of Spanish language throughout the narrative, and though I understand a decent amount of it, not everything translates well on the Internet. Still, an excellent read.

Very good book gives a detailed overview of the failed policy leading up to the surge and counter insurgency. Couple chapters of bio on Patreaus is a nice bonus. Report back Peek, as I have the macro to yer micro.

A.Lincoln bio written by Ronald C. White, Jr. is next. Colony to Superpower, a huge Oxford Libraray History of US foreign relations, after that...

"When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience."

Very good book gives a detailed overview of the failed policy leading up to the surge and counter insurgency. Couple chapters of bio on Patreaus is a nice bonus. Report back Peek, as I have the macro to yer micro.

A.Lincoln bio written by Ronald C. White, Jr. is next. Colony to Superpower, a huge Oxford Libraray History of US foreign relations, after that...

Intense would be the word.

Basically a minute-by-minute account of an infantry squad and the first 3 days of the Fallujah battle. I can't do it justice with a post. There's a three chapter stretch that deals with the clearing of just one house and includes a vividly descriptive narrative on the author's hand to hand fight (to the very violent death) in a dark, booby-trapped insurgent filled house that is simply hair raising.

These guys didn't face down old men and babies either. This was a fucking muslim all star team of Iraqis, Iranians, Syrians and radicals from all over the place. Very organized, well equipped, well trained and very committed. Complete buildings wired as IEDs along with cars and the typical devices. They used car batteries to detonate propane tank/gasoline explosives that killed numerous soldiers. Knowing the fear the soldiers had of the batteries they would recon by fire by having an insurgent walk the edges of the streets with what looked like a car battery. A squad would open up on the guy who was carrying nothing but a painted box and seconds later would be rpg'd and mortared now that the squad's position was given up.

Interesting too that the insurgents almost all were fucking ripped on straight epinephrine injected directly into their hearts. Dudes getting limbs and parts of their shot off and still shooting, breathing and fighting. Like PCP.

Without the armor hundreds and hundreds of US soldiers would have died that week. I know it's a combo and that's the point but equipment and firepower were clearly the difference as opposed to tenacity and organization. Because each side had that.

3 straight days and nights of hell and a full week in their boots, sick as shit from infections and disease.

I like these reads. I just always have. Where people get the resolve and balls is interesting to me. And the recurring theme is that its typically brought about by how much they love and give a shit about the guy next to them. They'd rather die than see their buddies die. And most of them have wives and kids who become secondary in that situation to dudes they've known for a year.

And what stands out is I don't see how they ever get closure on that shit.

I always recommend "The Odds" by Chad Millman this time of year - right before March Madness. True story documenting three people in Vegas, the professional who resides there only for college hoops season, the young hot-shot that won a few bets at home and moves out there on a whim, and finally a guy on the other side of the counter who talks about the pressures of the sportsbook.

Lead Pipe wrote:I always recommend "The Odds" by Chad Millman this time of year - right before March Madness. True story documenting three people in Vegas, the professional who resides there only for college hoops season, the young hot-shot that won a few bets at home and moves out there on a whim, and finally a guy on the other side of the counter who talks about the pressures of the sportsbook.

Excellent read, very interesting - a roller coaster.

Is that the one where the degenerate is bitching about no haltime line on the Blue-Gray Bowl on Christmas Day?

Mr. X wrote:Just finished Too Fat to Fish, Artie Lange's new book. Very funny and more moving than I thought it would be.

I've heard good things. That might be the next Kindle book if you recommend it.

Isn't there something else you should be reading?

Small doses Jen.

You know how psychiatrists who deal and talk to the most depraved and vile criminal minds ever known feel like they've been physically and emotionally affected by those discussions? And how they have to limit their contact with those people to just an hour or so or be drawn into their patient's psychosis.

Well, I think you know where I'm going.

But you're right: Form follows function. I have something to finish before I start on the book about the fat, drug-addled comedian.

Lead Pipe wrote:I always recommend "The Odds" by Chad Millman this time of year - right before March Madness. True story documenting three people in Vegas, the professional who resides there only for college hoops season, the young hot-shot that won a few bets at home and moves out there on a whim, and finally a guy on the other side of the counter who talks about the pressures of the sportsbook.

Excellent read, very interesting - a roller coaster.

Is that the one where the degenerate is bitching about no haltime line on the Blue-Gray Bowl on Christmas Day?

Yeah, classic passage. From the perspective of the guy working the book, explaining how pitiful that on Chrsitmas day the Stardust sportsbook had the same collection of regulars - there was no discernable difference between the nation's largest holiday and an ordinary day.

A guy shuffles up to the window and asks him when he's going to post the HALFTIME line for the Blue-Gray game. The cat at the book says, "If you can name me one player in that game, I'll post a line for you."

Lead Pipe wrote:I always recommend "The Odds" by Chad Millman this time of year - right before March Madness. True story documenting three people in Vegas, the professional who resides there only for college hoops season, the young hot-shot that won a few bets at home and moves out there on a whim, and finally a guy on the other side of the counter who talks about the pressures of the sportsbook.

Excellent read, very interesting - a roller coaster.

Is that the one where the degenerate is bitching about no haltime line on the Blue-Gray Bowl on Christmas Day?

Yeah, classic passage. From the perspective of the guy working the book, explaining how pitiful that on Chrsitmas day the Stardust sportsbook had the same collection of regulars - there was no discernable difference between the nation's largest holiday and an ordinary day.

A guy shuffles up to the window and asks him when he's going to post the HALFTIME line for the Blue-Gray game. The cat at the book says, "If you can name me one player in that game, I'll post a line for you."

Guy just shuffled back to his seat.

Great, great book...I actually think about it everytime that we sit for hours in a book and look around at all the regulars

Another classic quote:

"It wasn't a good day. Tech almost gave me a heart attack. Duke almost gave me a heart attack. South Florida did give me a heart attack. And then there was the stupid Texas game.I'm getting gray hair because of this. I'm 20 years old and I have gray hairs from half-points. I'm too young to have gray hairs, it's ridiculous. And I actually won $750 yesterday."

Love reading from the supervisor's POV as well...that was the year where the Rams were 200-1 to win the Super Bowl and then inserted as a 14.5 pt fave over Tampa in the championship game and all of the supe's asses were puckering...then they win and they post the Rams as 7.5 pt faves against TEN in the SB...whoa nelly!!!!

Mr. X wrote:About to start Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. Anyone have a thought on this one?

I read all of Vonnegut's stuff when I was a teen. I don't remember much about the book specifically but the book was one of his earlier works and I liked his early works far better than some of his later works.

Last edited by Jennifer on Wed Mar 18, 2009 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Absoulte outrageous. If you ever feel like a bad parent, read this and you'll be fine.

Check out W.A.R. if you haven't yet...even crazier than WYB

I read the Slash autobiography right after I read Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries...I figured if those 2 are still alive after what they did then I don't have anything to worry about from the old Kent/Akron/OU 'shroom days

Mr. X wrote:About to start Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. Anyone have a thought on this one?

Great book, one of his best IMO. If you like that check out Cat's Cradle, SlaughterHouse- Five, The Sirens of a Titan, Player Piano, and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

Vonnegut is an amazing author and an hero of mine for not only his writings but for his service in WWII also.

No Breakfast of Champions? Lighter fare, I suppose, and made a pretty crummy film, but I'm a fan. Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle are my other favorite Vonnegut works, but it's hard to pick a bad one.

For anyone who, in the spirit of the recently released Watchmen, wants to read the source material of what I hope will be the next big (kinda big, at least) thing on screen, it's George R.R. Martin's ongoing A Song of Ice & Fire series: a Game of Thrones, a Clash of Kings, a Storm of Swords, and a Feast for Crows. It's been optioned by HBO, and will hopefully be made into a series real soon. Four books, thick as hell, but first-rate fantasy literature. It's actually more of a fant-history than true "swords and sorcery" fantasy like you'll see from Robert Jordan, Weis & Hickman, Ed Greenwood, and the like. The history of the setting is astonishingly detailed, and has a very War of the Roses feel to it, so fans of European/English history would find it satisfying. I've been through each of the four books a half-dozen times (counting those reads where you just let it sit on the back of the toilet for a month) and absolutely love 'em. The fifth book is now 3 years past it's original intended publication date, which is absolutely killing me.

If you're a fan of fantasy, historical European political intrigue drama, or anything like that, you definitely need to read it. It's a lengthy undertaking, but totally worth it. You'll be dying right along with me waiting for the fifth book and the HBO series.

Absoulte outrageous. If you ever feel like a bad parent, read this and you'll be fine.

Check out W.A.R. if you haven't yet...even crazier than WYB

I read the Slash autobiography right after I read Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries...I figured if those 2 are still alive after what they did then I don't have anything to worry about from the old Kent/Akron/OU 'shroom days

Mr. X wrote:About to start Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. Anyone have a thought on this one?

Great book, one of his best IMO. If you like that check out Cat's Cradle, SlaughterHouse- Five, The Sirens of a Titan, Player Piano, and God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.

Vonnegut is an amazing author and an hero of mine for not only his writings but for his service in WWII also.

No Breakfast of Champions? Lighter fare, I suppose, and made a pretty crummy film, but I'm a fan. Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle are my other favorite Vonnegut works, but it's hard to pick a bad one.

No I haven't read it yet. I'm going to, it's on my To Read list, just keeps getting pushed back.I read alot of his work in while in high school/college, he is the master of dark humor and really witty satire.

Very good book gives a detailed overview of the failed policy leading up to the surge and counter insurgency. Couple chapters of bio on Patreaus is a nice bonus. Report back Peek, as I have the macro to yer micro.

A.Lincoln bio written by Ronald C. White, Jr. is next. Colony to Superpower, a huge Oxford Libraray History of US foreign relations, after that...

Tell Me How This Ends was a very good book, but if you are all over the Iraq war this only gets slightly deeper then what you prolly know.

btw Peeker what do you think of the Kindle? I've looked at that thing many times, but never pulled the trigger.

"When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience."

It's nice. Love the immediacy of downloading a book and getting right at it. Easy to use, easy to read. Books are less expensive via Kindle as well although they're so damn easy to order it takes some discipline to be reasonable. Love the feature that allows you to read the first chapter or two gratis before ordering too.

Excellent read. With Lincoln being mentioned many times as the model Obama was using in building his cabinet I figured I needed to educate myself beyond the surface. Will post a lil more info when I have more time...

"When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience leaves with money and the man with money leaves with experience."

Aftermath: Martin Bormann and the Fourth Reich by Ladislas Farago. About the hunt for Bormann in South America following WWII. Of course, Bormann never made it to South America; never even made it out of Berlin- but it's an entertaining read nonetheless.

HermanFontenot wrote:Aftermath: Martin Bormann and the Fourth Reich by Ladislas Farago. About the hunt for Bormann in South America following WWII. Of course, Bormann never made it to South America; never even made it out of Berlin- but it's an entertaining read nonetheless.

That would be extremely compellingthe man along with Artur Axmann just seemed to vanish

I may check that out

"There is but one thing of real value: to cultivate truth and justice and to live without anger in the midst of lying and unjust men"

I finally read one of the all-time great mysteries, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. Great book. Thought I had it figured out, but was dead wrong.

I've also gotten into some of Jeffry Deaver's books. They're absolutely fascinating. The amount of research he does shows in each of his books, and the amount of detail they go into about each subject matter is nothing short of amazing. What he does is take a subject (so far I've read books on identity theft, magicians, airplanes/witness protection, and hostage negotiations) and creates a story around it with twists and turns, going into great detail about how that particular subject works. For example, in the one about the magician, he does give away the secret to a couple of tricks, but mostly he gives details on what a magician would try to do, with things like sleight-of-hand (making a coin disappear), misdirection (showing the audience there's nothing up the sleeve, distracting them from where the object is really hidden), and mentalism (how the TV 'psychics' use unspoken clues, like facial reactions, to read someone's mind).

His books serve double purposes of being an engaging story while teaching you a great deal about a particular subject. Lincoln Rhyme (a quadriplegic former CSI) is his most popular character. Check it out if you get a chance.

Next book is 'Seven Roads To Hell' about the Winter offensive (Battle Of The Bulge)

I remember crying after reading A Farewell To Arms too.

I cried because I wasted hours of my life reading it and had no choice. It was an AP summer reading assignment in high school.

The only thing from Hemingway I ever liked was The Old Man and the Sea.

Hemingway's tendency to jump between bare description and the most elaborate ever written drives me nuts. I also never cared for his character development.

If I'm going with an American author of that time period then I'd have to go with Faulkner. I never have liked the Lost Generation authors, though I do like Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio - and I only read that because he lived in Elyria, the city I was born in. But Steinbeck, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald - the big names of that group - never did it for me.

As for me right now, I'm rereading Asimov's Foundation Series and might go beyond that back into his Robot Series or reread his Empire novels. I've often thought about starting with I,Robot and going all the way through the Robot Series, into the Empire novels, and then concluding with the Foundation Series to get the true scope of Asimov's future world over thousands of years.